AeroFarms breaks ground on aeroponic indoor vertical farm in Virginia

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On April 29, Newark-based AeroFarms announced it broke ground on its second commercial indoor vertical farm in Danville-Pittsylvania County, Va.

Elected officials from Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville, along with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture Bettina Ring and other state and community leaders, were on hand to join AeroFarms representatives for a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the beginning of construction of the 136,000-square-foot farm.

“We congratulate AeroFarms on launching construction of its state-of-the-art facility in Cane Creek Centre,” said Northam in a prepared statement. “The Commonwealth’s history is rooted in agribusiness, and the completion of the world’s largest and most advanced indoor vertical farm will enhance this booming industry. We thank AeroFarms for choosing Southern Virginia, and look forward to supporting its success.”

Coming online in the second quarter of 2022, AeroFarms’ next-generation Model 5 farm will be the largest and most technologically advanced aeroponic indoor vertical farm in the world.

Strategically located in close proximity to more than 1,000 food retailers in the region, the Danville farm will provide access to approximately 50 million people located within a day’s drive. The new farm will advance AeroFarms’ leadership in plant science and technology and expand its leafy greens business to the Mid-Atlantic region with brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce partners, building upon existing relationships that include Whole Foods Market, ShopRite, Baldor, Amazon Fresh and FreshDirect.

“The science, technology and innovation that underpin our platform allows us to drive superior unit economics and scale up our business to deliver on our mission of growing the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity,” said David Rosenberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of AeroFarms, in a company press release. “Our customers love our leafy greens, which consistently win on quality, flavor, taste and texture. We are excited to break ground on our new farm, expand our retail presence in the region and bring our exceptional, great tasting products to more customers.”